Liquid dispenser



Dec. 22, 1964 H. ERICKSON 3,162,340

LIQUID DISPENSER Filed Sept. l5, 1965 i '15EA INVENTOR. /Vo War a f'r'/av/S01? A TTORNE YS United States Patent O 3,162,340 LIQUID DISPENSERHoward L. Erickson, Bensenville, Ill., assignor to The Dole ValveCompany, Morton Grove, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Sept. 13,1963, Ser. No. 308,904 2 Claims. (Cl. Z22- 559) The present inventionrelates to liquid dispensers and more particularly relates to a liquiddispensing unit which employs a solenoid actuated valve assembly.

The present invention relates primarily to a very simple liquiddispensing unit which can be constructed quite cheaply and quickly. Theillustrated embodiment of the present invention comprises in general aliquid container having a sloping bottom wall and having a welldepending from that wall and having a ow port formed along a lhorizontalaxis and opening to the bottom of the well. A solenoid actuated valveassembly is cooperable with the iiow port to contr-ol the flow of liquidtherethrough and an outlet nipple is formed integrally with the liquidcontainer for carrying liquid to a point of utilization. The entireassembly with the exception of the solenoid actuated valve assembly isof one-piece molded plastic construction.

The valve head is of conical construction and is cooperable with asharply defined annulus at the port to control the flow of liquidthrough the port. Because of this arrangement and because of the factthat the valve head is formed of a resilient material, entrapment offoreign particles between the port wall and the valve head is minimized,sticking of the valve in a closed position is minimized, and valvehunting during closure is reduced to a minimum.

In addition, the resilient valve head is formed integrally with aflexible diaphragm which has its periphery sealed to the valve body walland which serves to protect the solenoid armature and thearmature-return spring from exposure to and possible attack by bleach orother liquids which might have a harmful eiect on the metal solenoidparts.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a verysimple, rugged, yet low cost liquid dispensing unit wherein thedispensing body is of one-piece molded plastic construction.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a y liquiddispensing unit formed of two, and only two, distinct sub-assemblies;mainly, a dispensing body per se and the valve assembly.

Yet another object of the invention resides in the provision of a liquiddispensing unit having means for controlling the dow of liquid whichreduced to a minimum the possibility of valve sticking in an open orclosed position.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from time to time as the following specificationproceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE l is a plan View of a liquid dispensing unit .constructed inaccordance with the principles of this invention; and

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along lines II-IIof FIG. l.

As shown on the drawings:

The outermost end of the boss 15 describes a flat annulus and provides asharp annular lip 22 which lip serves as a seat for a valve member 23.

A shoulder 24 is formed on the container 11 and is Y annular inconfiguration and coaxialwith the port 16 and has an outwardly extendinglip 25 formed about the periphery thereof. The shoulder 24 is spacedoutwardly from the annulus 21 so that the passage 18 is of considerablesize.

A resilient annular diaphragm 26 has a thickened bead 27 formed on itsperiphery and this bead is seated on the shoulder 24 and abuts the rimof lip 25. The main center section 28 of the diaphragm 26 is thin andquite ilexible and has a raised center section 29 which permitsconsiderable movement of the center portion of the diaphragm relative tothe shoulder 24.

The valve head 23 is formed integrally with the thin Walled section 28of the diaphragm 26 and includes a cylindrical shape 30 and a conicallyshaped portion 31. The conical portion 31 is described by a surface ofrevolutions lying at an angle of approximately 45 with respect to thecenter axis of the diaphragm and hence with respect to the center axisof the port or passage 16.

A clamp ring 32 serves to positively seat the bead on the shoulder 24and the solenoid 12 is in turn positively seated on the clamp ring 32,in a manner well understood by those skilled in this art.

In general, the solenoid includes a spool 33 having an electrical coil34 wound thereon and having a pair of thermal tabs 35 which areelectrically connected to the coil and which can be connected to a linepower source. The spool 33 serves as a guide for a reciprocably movablearmature 36. The armature 36 has a head 37 formed on the end thereofwhich is embedded within the resilient valve head 23 and which has aconfiguration complementary to that of the valve head 23. A conicalcornpression spring 38 is interposed between the outer surface of thediaphragm 26 adjacent the valve head 23 and the solenoid 12 to normallybias the valvehead 23 into a seated position on the sharp lip 22.

Due to the fact that the head 37 is embedded within the resilient valvehead 23, positive control of the positioning of the valve head 23 can beeffected and particle entrapment can take place to minimize valvemalfunction caused by valve jamming. In addition, undue swelling of therubber surrounding the head 37 is prevented due to the relatively smallthickness of the resilient valve head material at any given point.

Upon energization of the solenoid 12 the armature 36 will be retractiblymoved within the spool 33 and the valve head 23 will be unseated fromthe lip 22 to permit liquid to flow from the well through passages 16and 18 and thence through the outlet passage 19. Upon deeinergization ofthe solenoid, the spring 38 will again seat the valve in the positionshown in FIGURE 2.

It will be observed that the container 11 including the wall 14, theboss 15 and the lip 22, as well as the shoulder 24 and the outlet nipple2t) are all formed from one solid piece of molded plastic and that onlythe solenoid actuable valve assembly is required to convert thisone-piece molded body into an operable dispensing unit.

It will be understood that this embodiment of my invention has been usedfor illustrative purposes only and the various modifications andvariations in the invention may be effected without departing from thespirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. A liquid dispensing unit comprising:

a liquid container of one-piece molded plastic construction having aWell formed integrally therewith and depending therefrom along agenerally vertical axis and Ihaving a hollow boss protruding from thebottom of said well along a generally horizontal axis,

a passage formed within said boss and opening to said well,

a lip defining said passage at the outer end of said boss,

an annular shoulder formed on said container coaxial with said passage,

an annular passage formed intermediate said boss and said shoulder,

. an outlet nipple angling,downwardly'fromsaid Well and.v having anou-tletjtherein communicable with said annular passage,

a diaphragm having its periphery sealed to said shoulder and having acentral valve head cooperable with said lip' to vcontrol liquid ow-therepash andV means engageable withvsaidlvalve head for moving` samerelative to said lip to control theiiow of liquid vfrom said container.l s 2. A `liquid dispensing unit comprising:

'a liquid container Of one-piece molded plrasticgron-k struction havinga Well formed integrally therewithV and depending therefrom along agenerally vertical axis` andjhaving a hollow boss protruding from, ythebottom of said wellalong a generally horizontal axis,

apassage; formed within said kboss and opening to said Well,- 'Y

a. lip definingsaid passage at the outer end of lsaid` boss,

an annular shoulder'formed on said container coaxial l 4 l anoutletfnipple angling downwardly from said well and having an outlettherein communicable with said annular'passage,

a diaphragm having'its periphery sealed `tosaid shoulder and having acentral valve head cooperable with Vsaid lip to control liquid owtherepast, and

means engageable with said valve head for moving samerelative to saidlip tocontrol the ow of liquid from said container,V i

`W|herein said valve-Ahead is, conically congurated and is dened yby asurface of revolution lying atan angle of 45. Withre'spect` to thecenter axis of said diapl'.1ragrnV and sa'id'jrst` meutionedpassage, and

krwherein,saidplip presents a sharp edge for engagemeurt with said valvehead.

l: ReferencesCitedby theExaminer a UNITED STATESl PATENTS 2,334,181y11/43 Elston 222-504' X 2,959,341 1-1/60 Noakes zzz-504x V3,034,7615/6'2V Janquart 222-50'4 LOUIS DEMBO, Primary Examine).

1. A LIQUID DISPENSING UNIT COMPRISING: A LIQUID CONTAINER OF ONE-PIECEMOLDED PLASTIC CONSTRUCTION HAVING A WELL FORMED INTEGRALLY THEREWITHAND DEPENDING THEREFROM ALONG A GENERALLY VERTICAL AXIS AND HAVING AHOLLOW BOSS PROTRUDING FROM THE BOTTOM OF SAID WELL ALONG A GENERALLYHORIZONTAL AXIS, A PASSAGE FORMED WITHIN SAID BOSS AND OPENING TO SAIDWELL, A LIP DEFINING SAID PASSAGE AT THE OUTER END OF SAID BOSS, ANANNULAR SHOULDER FORMED ON SAID CONTAINER COAXIAL WITH SAID PASSAGE, ANANNULAR PASSAGE FORMED INTERMEDIATE SAID BOSS AND SAID SHOULDER, ANOUTLET NIPPLE ANGLING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID WELL AND HAVING AN OUTLETTHEREIN COMMUNICABLE WITH SAID ANNULAR PASSAGE, A DIAPHRAGM HAVING ITSPERIPHERY SEALED TO SAID SHOULDER AND HAVING A CENTRAL VALVE HEADCOOPERABLE WITH SAID LIP TO CONTROL LIQUID FLOW THEREPAST, AND MEANSENGAGEABLE WITH SAID VALVE HEAD FOR MOVING SAME RELATIVE TO SAID LIP TOCONTROL THE FLOW OF LIQUID FROM SAID CONTAINER.